Breaking Down Satellite TV Dish Options

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by graysailor

Everything installed and working but yesterday I added an external HD to turn my Receiver into a DVR. No luck....Dish support can't understand the problem. They/we tried for over an hour to get the HD to download the software but the receiver still won't recognize the HD. Not sure what to do about this issue.

While most major manufacturers' external hard drives are compatible, keep in mind the following guidelines when purchasing an external hard drive:
When using an external hard drive with a ViP 612, 622, 722, 722k, 922, or Hopper, the drive should be no smaller than 50 GB and no larger than 2 TB.
When using an external hard drive with a ViP 211, 211k, 211z or DISH 411, the drive should be no smaller than 50 GB and no larger than 2 TB.
The external hard drive must have its own power supply.
The external hard drive must support USB 2.0.
The external hard drive must not use flash memory and should only be a single-hard disk drive.

Assuming that you meet the requirements above, the only things I can think of might be a problem with the receiver and or the port it is plugged into, a bad usb cable, or a problem with the drive itself. Have you tried to plug the drive into a PC just to see if it is functioning?

One of the other things I remember reading (and I don't know if this is still true), that Dish receivers may have problems with hard drives that have energy saving power circuits. Some drives will spin down when not in use and I remember that at one time Dish receivers didn't provide the signal to "wake up" sleeping drives. That's why Dish recommends the Western Digital AV model external hard drives. Those disks don't spin down. I noticed that Amazon is selling the 1 TB model for $87 and free shipping right now.

Jack

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by CA_Tallguy

Amazing! My rooftop Trav'ler just pulled in a signal through (or over the top of) this massive tree! I thought for sure that this would be the first time I was blocked by trees from using the rooftop dish.

Not totally a big surprise. The further south you go, the satellites tend to be higher in the sky due to their orbital locations. As you go north you start moving your aiming point further down towards the horizon and trees and other obstacles become more of a problem. In all cases the signals that the dish is seeing comes higher up in the sky than the angle of the LNB which is receiving the signal that is reflected from the dish itself.

Jack

[jcanavera]

There was some talk in this thread earlier in February regarding eastern arc or western arc satellites for Dish network and which arc to point to. Just as an update, for home antenna placements, Dish for the last month has now been giving their installers the order to point towards the eastern arc unless it is not available.

I found this out due to the fact that I was upgrading a Hopper receiver in my home and was surprised that they were going to send an installer out to do this. I asked why they just would send out the Hopper so I could swap, and was told that the installer would bring out a new LNB and was going to aim me to the eastern arc satellites. I talked to advanced tech support and they told me that the orders have come from engineering to point to the eastern satellites but they have no explanation as to why this change is being made.

My son just did got Dish this last weekend and the installers orders were to point east, although they had to point to the westerns due to a tree.

Rumors abound, and one is that there is a problem with one of the western arc satellites but I can't substantiate that as of yet. Another rumor is that HD signal strength is better looking at the eastern arc. The installer at my son's house disputed that (at least in our area of the country). He also noted that all of the orders he has handled in the past month have been telling him to point to the eastern arc. He has no clue as to why this change occurred since pointing to the western arc was the norm for this area.

I did ask the Tailgater support tech at Dish as to what this means for the Tailgater and he noted that he was aware of no changes and that the Tailgater will continue to only look at the western arc satellites.

I'll prowl around on some of the satellite forums and see if I can get any further info as to what is going on.

[CA_Tallguy]

Which receiver are you using and what brand/model is the hard drive?

I highly recommend that you use a Hopper DVR in your trailer since you have that luxury with the Trav'ler!

[CA_Tallguy]

Re: eastern or western arc -- for a fixed install, this matters more than mobile. But each market with dish is generally setup more for one arc than the other. Very large markets might be on both, however. Now, when I say "set up" for one more than the other - I mean that your locals might be in HD on one arc and only SD on the other. I hear about a lot of folks who are pointed to the wrong arc because the installer was either lazy or didn't know any better.

The further you go into the northeast, the more you'll likely need to be on eastern arc. Not only for the above reason, but in order to have a good view to the satellites.

Otherwise, for mobile, it's nice to have a solution that can look to either arc as you will have a better chance to clear obstructions blocking one or another.

Unfortunately, my Trav'ler is only setup for western arc. Interestingly, however, in setup the other day, the dish DID lock on to an eastern arc satellite for a moment while searching for western satellites. The receiver even kicked in with programming. I suspect it might only be able to lock onto one satellite at a time on the eastern arc because the spacing of the LNBs on the arm and position of the arm are setup for western spacing.

It's unfortunate that Winegard doesn't have a manual mode that would allow me to manually do this anyway. Then I could at least have a chance to lock into one eastern satellite if my western arc view was blocked. I might try a workaround in the future and be ready to pull the power if and when it temporarily locks onto an eastern bird in a search like this. Certainly not ideal as the search pattern may not be very predictable.

[CA_Tallguy]

A different view of the tree I'm clearing right now (on the left). My dish is almost perfectly centered on the tree.... It's a massive tree. Never would have thought I could clear such a large object so near to the trailer.

[Al and Missy]

The direct broadcast dishes are called offset feed. Unlike the old large round dishes where the focus is perpendicular to the dish, as you suspected the focus is approximately the mirror image of the line from the center of the dish to the feed lnb. This puts it substantially higher than you might think. The multiple feeds also laterally spread the aim point out for different satellites. The tree may be blocking some feeds but not all.

Al

[graysailor]

I guess I just needed to wait a day. Receiver and HD are now connected. The dealer sold me the receiver otherwise I guess you have to lease the receiver and I bought the HD. I went with the 120 channel option so time will tell if that is enough. A lot of channels that I will never watch.

[jcanavera]

From what I have been able to determine, Dish is moving some cities to the eastern arc satellite to free up space on the westerns.

This is a list of cities that are having new customer eastern arc installs . Probably means that someday or some year, the SD western arc feeds for these will be shut down. But, lots of service calls before that could happen.

Charlotte,NC
Birmingham,AL
Minneapolis,MN
Raleigh,NC
Tampa,FL
Joplin,MO
Cleveland,OH
GrandRapids, MI
Ft.Meyers, FL
Norfolk,VA
Richmond,VA
Detroit,MI
W.Palm Beach, FL
Orlando,FL
PerryCounty, MO
Savannah,GA
Nashville,TN
Memphis,TN
Mobile,AL
Charleston,WV
Huntsville, AL
Kansas City, MO
Des Moines, IA
St. Louis, MO
Pittsburgh, PA

Jack

[graysailor]

I have not really had a TV for over 10 years (no channels only used for movies) so I was kind of excited about getting the Sat system. 120 channel option and so far quite disappointed with the programing. Not much of anything worth watching. i.e.. The History Channel has nothing to do with history and A&E is just as bad. Hate to spend another $50 for 50 more useless channels.

[CA_Tallguy]

graysailor - I'd really suggest that you get the Dish Hopper since you can with your Trav'ler, and make HEAVY use of the DVR feature. I don't really watch much live TV at all, except maybe the morning shows on the big networks. (I had been watching CNN until they turned into a 24/7 "where's the plane!" channel.)

I believe you said that you got an external hard drive and HD receiver, but there is really no comparison to the Hopper as it can record 3 to 6 programs at a time. Plus, it will record EVERYTHING off of the 4 major networks using "primetime anytime" and it will even auto-skip the commercials if you watch things after 12 to 24 hours.

Heavy reliance on the DVR is really the only way to go! I have hundreds of hours of programs on my Hopper at any time, tailored to my interests. I don't think the basic receiver you have is going to have adequate DVR features to really make TV watching that enjoyable.

[switz]

You can spend over $200 per month for junk channels trying to get one useful one that is only available if one orders the "everything" package. That is a lot of bovine by-products.

The original cable/satellite/radio concept was for the monthly fees one did not get advertising. On some shows, the ads take up over 50% of the hour.

[graysailor]

Yes, I will look into the Hopper. Already have made good use of the Hard Drive. Unless you get lucky that is the only way to go.

It would help if the receiver only showed the channels that you get instead of having to scroll thru a bunch of must pay for programing. I spend a little time everyday playing with the TV and I am slowly learning the short cuts.

TallGuy...I read a report that CNN is stuck on the lost plane because that is what is drawing the ratings. I agree I have had enough also of the "lost plane".

[CA_Tallguy]

With most receivers... Or at least with the hopper and I think others as well... You can program in your 'favorite' channels into lists. Then you can see only those channels in the program guide. It does make it a lot easier to see better programming. There should also be a preset list to show only the channels you get. With that preset, it will keep the list up to date as they add and move channels around as the inevitably do. The custom channel lists you make for your favorites will need to be updated a few times per year to account for those changes.

[graysailor]

Another good idea. I will work on making a list of just the channels that I receive with no additional cost.

[graysailor]

Any thoughts about AT&T buying DirectTV? Looking forward too higher prices with zero customer support.

[jcanavera]

That will be interesting if the Feds approve. I don't have experience with Direct but one of my happiest days was when I dumped AT&T from my home for my landline and DSL services. I was a gung-ho supporter of them for years for telecommunications services, but their customer service and lack of competitiveness in our local market makes me wonder if this would be a good move.

Jack

[m.hony]

Not much will change if AT&T buys DirecTV. They both have terrible customer service now. It won't get any worse. If I could get my wife to go along with me, I would not have satellite or cable. We can watch Gomer Pyle, USMC, Petticoat Junction, and The Beverly Hillbillies for free at one of our favorite campgrounds without even raising the antenna.

[jcanavera]

I just heard that AT&T announced the purchase today, pending regulatory approval. It will be interesting how long this takes and whether it will be approved.

Jack

[Mexray]

We've been through several Sat antennas over the past few years, with new, improved models being offered every year...

1. we started with a VuCube portable (egg) model - you had to manually find the Sats (only two) using a remote control it was 'clunky' and took a learning curve to be used easily - no HD service...

2. when we got our AS, I installed a Winegard Trav'ler as part of our updating process, as we now had HD tv's. We already had DISH service at home, so we only had to add a VIP211 receiver and we were on the 'air'...EXCEPT when we were parked behind a tree...!

3. I tried using a home-type DISH antenna with the 3 LNB's on a small tripod for those times we expected to be blocked by trees... I wasn't the best solution, as the set-up was a real pain to get manually locked on to the Sat's, finding a clear view, etc... DISH has an APP that shows the approximate position of the Sat's on your iPhone - but it's all but useless..!

4. Today, Using DISH service, I'd go with Winegrard's 'Pathway X1' portable type antenna - it's got the best features for all-around use, IHMO...

a. Portable - allows you to find a clear view of Sat's if you're in the trees.

b. Automatic tracking/setup to find Sat signals - you just enter the State you are in, and the unit finds em'.

d. Doesn't require external power - only the coax cable from the receiver.

e. Uses the DISH VIP211Z receiver, and you can add an external hard drive for video storage if wanted.

f. You can use (2) VIP211Z's on the unit for viewing from two tvs.

g. If you have DISH service at home, it only costs $7/month to add a VIP211Z.

h. If you DON'T have home DISH service, you can have service turned on and off as you need from DISH without fees other than the one month service you select.

i. Winegard also offers a rooftop mount for the Pathway X1 if you decide to mount it up there after all.

j. The only downside is it's 'portability' - could easily be 'borrowed' by some passing scum-bag - it does have a handle that you can thread a locking cable through to secure to some stationary object & slow down a 'borrower'...

We do enjoy our Sat service when out in the boonies. We have even added the All American major network service when we were on an extended road trip to watch our fav network programs...